


Kintsugi

by MadameC



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: Fluff, Missing Scene, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Post-Episode: s01e09 Chapter Nine: The Returned Man, Zelda Spellman Needs A Hug, Zelda Spellman-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-14 23:23:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21023942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameC/pseuds/MadameC
Summary: Kintsugi is the idea of repairing something that broke, like a piece of pottery, with gold as the glue holding the pieces back together. Not only does the gold repair what was broken, but arguably makes it better than it was before the break happened.ORThe talk that should have happened after Sabrina yelled, "You're not my mother, Zelda, so stop acting like you are!"





	Kintsugi

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! It has been a while since I posted. I just started a new job and it has been crazy. Anyways, I feel like the aftermath of the incident with Sabrina yelling at Zelda should have been addressed. As it was not, I made my own version. I hope you enjoy, and as always, no copyright intended.

Sniffles pervaded the air, backed by the sound of the tinkling wind chimes clanging against one another in a rhythmic melody. The light from both the moon and the warm glow penetrating through the glass panes of the mortuary shed enough light on both women’s faces sitting on the steps of the porch to reveal their expressions.

One petite blonde girl, who looked to be a teenager, was wrapped in the arms of an older woman with strawberry hair and black fingernails. The younger girl was crying in the arms of the older woman, hands curled against her seeping eyes while the woman wrapped one arm around the young body in her arms and the other around the head of the girl, shielding her from the light forsaken world around them.

While the younger girl was obviously upset, the older woman looked as if she was displaying some emotional turmoil as well, bubbling beneath the surface then spilling over the edge of her facade. She laid her head against the girl’s, and her eyes reflected a sheen of wetness that showed not only the strength she had in holding her tears back, but also the depths of the emotions she had to feel in order for there to be any type of outward display of them.

She tightly shut her eyes so that no drops of sentiment did leak out and baptize the girl she was holding. Eventually the younger girl stopped crying and the older woman slowly, reluctantly, released her in order for them both to stand up and go back inside the house.

“Come inside darling, it’s cold,” the older woman said softly to the teenager. While the teenager was standing, the older woman quickly wiped at her eyes in order to rid herself of any of the lingering emotions displayed on her face, though she was still feeling them in her inner being.

The girl also wiped at her face before she stood, ridding herself of the tears that streaked down her face, but not of the glassy look in her eyes and the red nose. Once she was satisfied, she took her aunt’s offered limb and they walked into the mortuary together, linked arm in arm.

Hilda and Ambrose were talking quietly in the kitchen, stopping once they heard the door close. Sabrina knew that they were listening in, so she asked Zelda if they could go to Sabrina’s bedroom for some much-needed privacy.

Zelda, too, thought that would be best and they made their way up the stairs to Sabrina’s bedroom. The two that remained downstairs sighed in disappointment at not being able to hear what was happening and resigned themselves to a late night round of tea with just a _touch _of brandy.

Sabrina walked up the stairs first, with Zelda following a step behind her, tightly gripping the railing as she went. Once they made it to the bedroom door, she grasped the handle lightly and slowly turned the brass knob in order to gain entrance. She quickly walked over to her bed and sat against the headboard, face puffy from crying and a hollow look in her eyes.

Sabrina did desire to talk to her aunt about what happened between them. About telling, no… spitting in her face, that Zelda was not her mother and that she needed to butt out of the justice that Sabrina was trying to enact. In the moment she was not upset at Zelda particularly, but did lash out at her nonetheless, cutting her more deeply than she knew. The devil inside her reared its ugly head and made her say the one thing she knew would damage her aunt the most.

Her aunt was a complicated and complex woman. She was no doubt the fiercest of the two sisters, ready to take on anyone or anything that would threaten her or her family. She had a biting tongue, a hard façade, and a classiness about her that made her seem almost untouchable.

Sabrina, though, knew that how her aunt chose to be perceived by others was not a reflection of her most raw and basic inner self. Her aunt was devout, no doubt about that, but knew that she would put her family before anything else, even the Dark Lord himself.

She also knew about her aunt’s seemingly hidden maternal tendencies. While Hilda very openly showed affection to everyone who came across her path, Zelda did not. Sabrina did not miss, though, the soft tones she used with her biting tongue and the way her face softened and a smile lit up her hard façade.

Physical affection was not common, but there nonetheless. Cheek caresses, kisses to the forehead, comforting and warm hands on shoulders or arms. Zelda tried to be the strict disciplinarian to contrast herself with Hilda, but the part of her that was affectionate and openly loving burst free from time to time.

With her stern composure, though, came an underlying craving for affection and love from others that she never received as a child or an adult. Always trying to shut herself off from emotion (but not always succeeding), she presented herself as a cold-hearted woman that to most, seemed like she did not need anyone or anything to survive.

Even Sabrina looked at her like that a lot of the time, a queen on top of a castle made of ice. In the moments of comfort and heartache, though, she remembered that her aunt was human (er, witch) like everyone else and needed all the same things she did.

Sabrina took advantage of her knowledge of her aunt. She knew that underneath everything Zelda was afraid of losing her family, of being rejected from the love and acceptance she got from them that people rarely, if ever, gave her. She exploited that knowledge in the worst way possible by telling Zelda she was not her mother. Restoration needed to happen, and Sabrina had to be the one to build Zelda back up again.

Presently, Zelda slowly shut the door and turned around to face Sabrina. She slowly walked over to her bedside, almost as if she were approaching a frightened animal, and gracefully lowered herself on Sabrina’s bedside. Zelda knew that Sabrina had to be the one to bring up what happened, or it would result in the both of them shutting down as she was afraid an accusatory tone would overshadow her good intentions of trying to mend their shattered relationship.

Knowing that Sabrina was probably too exhausted, both physically and emotionally, to have yet another meaningful encounter that night, she pulled the covers up from where Sabrina was sitting on top of them and tucked her into bed.

Planting a light kiss on her cheek and taking her hand for a second, Zelda wished Sabrina a good night. “Auntie I….” Sabrina started. “Shhh… sweetheart. We can talk about it in the morning or whenever you are ready to. I’ll be here.” With that, Zelda stood as gracefully as she had sat down, switched the light off in Sabrina’s room, and headed to her own bedroom.

When Zelda got to her bedroom Hilda was not there to try and get information out of her, praise Satan. She was still awake, mulling over the day and the consequences of it, when Hilda did finally enter after her nightcap. “Zelds?” Hilda whispered from the other side of the room. Zelda, not in the mood to talk, did not answer. Hilda sighed quietly and got into bed, quickly going to sleep. It took Zelda much longer to do so, but eventually she finally followed Hilda into the land of dreams and more frequently, nightmares.

* * *

A few days passed. Sabrina still felt the emptiness in her gut over losing Harvey, but thought it was time to get back into the routine of things. She was a Spellman, after all, and Spellmans didn’t just quit or give up when things were tough. She learned that from her aunts. She decided that she was going to go back to school tomorrow, but first she had to do something even more important. She had to talk to her aunt.

When she came down for breakfast that morning, everyone was in their usual spots. Hilda was running around the kitchen trying to whip up breakfast, Ambrose was seated at the table talking to Hilda, and Zelda was reading a newspaper (in who knows what language) while smoking a cigarette, which was between the clamps of her beloved cigarette holder ring.

Sabrina plopped down in her usual seat and glanced over at Zelda, who was still staring intently at her newspaper. Gathering up her courage and strength, she whispered, “Auntie? Can… can we talk?” Zelda slowly lowered her newspaper and looked at Sabrina for a moment before nodding her head. “Can we go to the living room?” Once again, Zelda nodded her head and rose from her seat, the newspaper now forgotten.

As they walked out, Hilda and Ambrose quieted down and their stares followed the two retreating figures out of the room. The only sound heard was the point of Zelda’s heels clacking along the hard floor.

When they got to the living room, they sat down on opposite ends of the yellowing floral couch, Sabrina awkwardly looking down at her hands in her lap and Zelda looking her usual graceful self, legs crossed and shoulders straight.

Wringing her hands in her lap, Sabrina peaked up at Zelda, who was looking at her expectantly. Sabrina sighed and began speaking. “Auntie, I’ve been thinking about what to say to you and every time I try to come up with something good to say, it just… doesn’t work out how I want it. So I… I’m just gonna start talking.”

Sabrina now looked at her aunt directly in the eyes, as what she was about to say was important. “I’m so sorry. There isn’t really anything I can say to take away what I said, but just know I’m so sorry. I just wanted what I thought was best for Harvey…. but we know how that turned out. I thought that since you were so unconcerned about mortals that you just did not care what happened to Harvey and Tommy and that I knew best since I’m half mortal and was living in the mortal world too. So… so when you tried to tell me what to do about my problems concerning mortals I tried to get you to butt out in the cruelest way possible.”

Sabrina took a deep breath and looked down in her hands as she continued. “I knew what I was saying was gonna hurt you. But you…. you should know that what I said wasn’t true. You’re not my mom by blood, but you and Auntie Hilda have always been my moms. You’ve raised me, taught me about magic, loved me…. I’m just so sorry. You’re my mom in every way that counts, and I love you.”

Sabrina looked up as she heard a wet sniffle from the other side of the couch. Zelda was trying to hold back her tears but failing miserably. When Sabrina saw her aunt’s rare state, she scooted over beside her to hold her the way her aunt was holding her the other night.

Even though the older woman was taller than her, she wrapped one arm around her aunt’s back and the other hand rested on the side of her head, gently pulling her down to rest her wet cheek against Sabrina’s clothed shoulder. Her aunt, in turn, tightly wrapped her arms around the petite girl holding her.

Sabrina held her aunt for several minutes, rubbing her back and running her fingers through her hair, slightly rocking both of them. Her aunt was clutching at her like a child, as if she could not let go, as if she had never felt so vulnerable yet so wanting of the comfort given to her. It broke Sabrina’s heart a little, the way her aunt clung to her. As if no one had ever done this for her before. No one really had.

After Zelda composed herself, she let out a sigh and slowly released Sabrina from her clutching and desperate grip. She sat up and wiped at her face, which only seemed to make the mascara and eyeliner running down her cheeks worse, but Sabrina would never tell her that. She gave Sabrina a watery smile and wiped the few tears that had coursed during Sabrina’s face as well.

Zelda then pulled Sabrina into a proper hug and rested her chin on the top of Sabrina’s left shoulder. Whispering in her ear, she rasped, “Thank you for saying that, darling. It means everything in all the realms for me to hear what you have just said. I love you too, sweetheart. So much. Shall we go back, now? Hilda is probably waiting for us; I’m surprised as heaven she hasn’t burst in here yet.”

Giving one final squeeze, Zelda released Sabrina and they both stood up to go into the kitchen. Zelda was right. Breakfast was ready, bacon, eggs, and blueberry pancakes. Sabrina’s eyes lit up when she saw them and gave a wide grin. Hilda and Ambrose both saw the lingering emotions on Sabrina’s and Zelda’s faces, along with the bold black streaks and smudges down Zelda’s. “Zelds, Sabrina, are you alright?” Hilda asked timidly.

“Of course we are, Hilda. No need to fret.” Zelda said confidently. The family sat down at the table together and held a conversation full of sarcasm, wit, and laughter like they usually did.

After they finished, Zelda announced that she had to leave to see the High Priest. “Er, Zelda, you might want to freshen up a bit first,” Hilda said timidly. Zelda rolled her eyes at her sister but went to the bathroom anyways. When she got in there, her family heard a large gasp. “SATAN IN HELL, WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME I LOOKED LIKE THIS?”

Zelda barreled back in to the kitchen and stared at her family accusingly, lingering on Sabrina. Sabrina stuttered, “Um, well, I didn’t want to ruin the moment!” As Zelda strode back into the bathroom, her family let out a few laughs at her expense. Amidst her laughs Hilda yelled, “WE’RE SORRY, ZELDS! WE LOVE YOU!” Zelda, though annoyed, gave a small smile. Her family. 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! Leave a comment below or a kudos, if you feel so inclined.


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